Lonely without you ||Qinter||

one

It was a beautiful day.

The sky was never this clear in the ice kingdom, Winter sighed to himself. In the north, the sun either beamed blinding white or wasn't visible at all. It was one of the only things he didn't miss from his home. He would be soaring in the air right now if he didn't have his duties to fulfill.

"Get back here," Winter grumbled as he snagged a scavenger who had tried to escape their temporary cage. They were equally fascinating and annoying, and an absolute pain to catch. Once the icewing figured he had gathered enough he started to head back towards Sanctuary, letting his mind wander.

Lately, all Winter could think about was the obnoxious sandwing. Qibli. His name alone made Winter shiver, scavengers shrieking in terror. It was weird, icewings weren't supposed to shiver. Especially not royal ones, Winter's mind supplies out of reflex.

Something was different. Once Moon had rejected both of them, Qibli had started to hang around him more. It wasn't bad, it was actually the opposite. It was a relief, no longer being rivals they could hang out without tension. The problem was Winter. Recently he started reacting weirdly to Qibli's presence. His face would flush blue and his voice would stutter sometimes. It's absolutely HIGHLY UNDIGNIFIED.

Approaching the Sanctuary at last, Winter passes the couple of scavengers he found to a fellow volunteer. A rainwing, who Winter felt guilty not remembering the name of, smiled and rushed to take them towards the miniature town.

Winter started to head towards his current residence, many dragons nodded and waved a talon as Winter passed. He dipped his head back absentmindedly, still befuddled.

He missed him. It was painful to admit, but he missed his brilliant friend. The way his snout scrunched when he laughed, freckled bobbing up and down. The way he would always lean closer to Winter, despite the chill radiating off the icewing's body. Even Qibli's annoying way of being always right. It irked Winter to no end, he renounced his kingdom for two months and he's already gone soft.

Entering his current home, Winter glanced down. A small letter was laying on the floor of his forest hut. Bringing it over to his desk, Winter inspected the paper. He hadn't seen most of the Jade Winglet in a while, with the exception of Kinkajou. They were all busy at school or helping to better their tribe.

It was dusty and smelled like a bonfire. It was also littered with small stains, as if the author had been eating something while writing. It was stamped with the royal sandwing emblem, Winter's heart leaping as he recognized the handwriting. It a burst of excitement he began to read,

Greetings Winter, Nephew of Queen Glacier,

Hah! Just kidding, I bet you thought I was some formal guard who was coming to take you back to the ice palace, huh?

Hilarious joke aside, how have you been?! Being a royal advisor is tough work, but it's pretty fun. I'm keeping a special eye on Smolder for a while (Burn's brother). I don't quite like the way he's hanging around Queen Thorn!

How's Sanctuary? Discovered any super secret hidden scavenger secrets yet? Moon says that scavengers have really complex emotions! Isn't that crazy?

Don't answer that yet! I'm actually coming to visit sanctuary soon! Hopefully I'll be there in a couple of days, I've missed you and Kinkajou a bunch! I'm sure it's mutual of course. You're probably dying to see your favorite friend too ;)

Hope you're taking care,
Qibli

Winter read it again. And again. And again. He decided to ignore how his hands shook and how his face flushed at the favorite friend part. Instead he focused on the visiting part. Winter felt the anticipation already start to build, excitement lifting his wings and giving him a goofy smile.

He took a couple deep breathes and set the letter down, feeling silly. Spreading his wings he launched outside, shooting above the trees and doing a small spin. So what if he looked a bit silly? It was a beautiful day outside, why waste it.